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Youtube has alot of videos on this stuff. But im just intrested in slinging buck.

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Has anyone tried any of the 'specialty' ammo out there? I see there's rubber buckshot, breacher loads, flechette loads, and my most interested one, flash bangs. I know there's even more like the Dragon's Breath and Exploding Slugs, But I've never been real impressed with the fantasy stuff.

Any insight would be appreciated.....

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I have used rubber buckshot and slugs in 6 or so work applications. The first time was mix of Buck and solid ball in a jail riot/escape attempt. There were approximately 120 prisoners and 8 of us. With rubber rounds. There were 4 officers with live ammo for anyone who made it over. Guns were a mix of 870's, 500's and Winchester 1300's. At a range of approximately 20 yards outside the facility fence we were ordered if they breached a fire escape to keep anyone from going over the perimeter fence. When they did breach the fire escape they ran toward the fence and the Lt. Ordered them to prone on the ground and surrender. As soon as the first couple hit the fence we opened fire on the climbers. I got 2 solid hits on 2 guys and the fight was over for them. They hit the deck and covered up. We then directed fire to the mob and had everyone surrender within 40 rounds fired. None of the guys with live ammo fired a shot.
It hit hard enough the prisoners thought we were all using live ammo. The buckshot spread to 10 inches or so with some penetrating just under the skin. The slugs hit like baseballs and left tennis ball size welts. I remember picking up some of them. The slugs were like bouncy balls from a vending machine and the buck was like the green rubber pellets from toy guns when I was a kid.
The other times over the years have been various barricaded suspect and individuals acting stupid.
That first time was the shit though. I was a new rookie and thought this kinda stuff would happen all the time. Oh yea cause of the riot? County complying with the federal mandate to eliminate tobacco use in jails. Thanks big gov!

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Has anyone tried any of the 'specialty' ammo out there? I see there's rubber buckshot, breacher loads, flechette loads, and my most interested one, flash bangs. I know there's even more like the Dragon's Breath and Exploding Slugs, But I've never been real impressed with the fantasy stuff.

Any insight would be appreciated.....

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Youtube has alot of videos on this stuff. But im just intrested in slinging buck.

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maybe look at those steel D Dupleks slugs.

theres another new brand H.D slug out, it's on youtube.

shit those kids on youtube shoot all kinds of odd stuff out of shotguns

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A buddy bought some of the Dragon's Breath rounds one time; they were pretty impressive on a 4th of July night but you do have to be careful with them.  I've shot a couple of flechette rounds and agree that they are worthless.  I've also shot some of the rubber buck and beanbag rounds but only at targets, not escaping prisoners.  When we were younger one of my friends and I used to load odd things like lead sinkers, nuts, saboted rifle rounds and plastic beads into shotgun shells and shoot them out of his old Ithaca cylinder bore.  Most of them were functional but not particularly impressive but cut shells will cut small pines in half and demolish soft targets like toaster ovens.    I still shoot cut shells every now and then when someone asks about them; use new factory crimped rounds for best results and cut almost all of the way through at the wadding.

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I'd really like some confetti shells to shot at weddings. I could just imagine a redneck 21gun salute as the bride and groom exist the church or leave or their honeymoon.

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Inspired by the "Tactical Single-Shot Shotgun" thread, I cut down the barrel to 18.5" as well as shortened the stock and stream-lined an old Savage single-shot. Sorry no pics because I am having problems with my Photo-Bucket account.

Anyway, after I completed work on my gun it had a sorta M79 "Thumper" quality to it so I decided to play with some of the "exotic" rounds. Frankly, they were all disappointing (particularly compared to their cost/round) but there were three rounds that performed well-enough that I thought it worth keeping a few on a bandoleer with the gun (along with some traditional Bird, Buck and Slug).

Zombie Blaster rounds -"5 rounds Zombie Blaster™ 12 Gauge 2 3/4" Non-projectile Mega Blank Rounds" from Sportsman's Guide. Despite the gimmicky name, of the blank rounds I fired, these were definitely the LOUDEST!!! My ears were ringing for a couple days after firing two rounds without hearing protection. It was a lot louder standing to the side of the blast. If you ever needed such a round to scare stray dogs, wildlife, use a distraction or use as an audible alarm these would be pretty good. They will make anybody and anything in the immediate area STOP whatever they are doing for a few seconds at least.

Red Meteor Flares obvious utility- I happen to have a good supply of old OLIN 12ga. flares that I used to get for free when I worked at a marina (old stock with expired dates). Even though they are old, they have all fired for me. My cut down barrel now has virtually no constriction so the flare can exit the barrel. YMMV on a barrel with ANY sort of choke!

Door Breaching Round- I include this with some hesitation. It would literally be a last resort to gaining entry or finding egress from a structure. A few years ago a friend purchased some Navy surplus rounds and experimented with them. He then loaded some rounds using #12 "rat shot" and found them to be more predictable and controllable but very effective on the vulnerable points of a door. Again, I AM NOT ADVISING ANYBODY TO USE THESE ROUNDS FOR ANY REASON! Even when used "properly" there is great risk of injury.


Most everything else I shot was simply a novelty or a gimmick and I would not buy them again.


Also, using "less lethal" loads in firearms is almost always a bad idea. If you truly have justification for shooting a firearm at somebody then it should be with the goal of stopping a real threat, not "warning" somebody or "scaring" somebody.